Sunday, March 20, 2011

Titirangi's ever-shifting war memorial

Spotted the Titirangi War Memorial outside the local community centre/war memorial hall today. Thought -- Hey, how come I missed this when I photographed the special clay tiles last year? Did I? Maybe. But that cement work and the pavers at the rear look quite new. Plus, the war memorials page for this one at NZhistory.net, where the photos date from 1986 and 2009, show slightly different locations. Looks like, since 1965 when the memorial seems to have been shifted from its original spot on Memorial Hill (near Titirangi School, across the road from Lopdell House to the north), it has probably been moved at least twice. Maybe three times. What on earth have the local authorities got against this lovely pillar? I'll leave it up to the locals to tell me more, should they come upon this post.

Anyway -- more images from today.

"Erected by H Atkinson to record the names of the men of Titirangi who left New Zealand to fight for the British Empire and the human race."

The move was made four or five Saturdays ago; I stumbled on the ceremony while returning some books to the adjacent library. The fire service provided a group in full dress uniform for flag duties and a group of military re-enactment enthusiasts had a platoon of "soldiers" in lemon squeezer hats. Unfortunately, their drill and appearance was rather more comical than ceremonial. Not sure why it was moved from one side of the parking area to the other, though, other than the thought from an RSA member that the new site offered better "protection".

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